Outdoor Activities for Kids

If your children are starting to get restless, going outside to play might be the perfect solution. A change of atmosphere can be the perfect solution for a child that has gotten too cranky. You do not need to travel far or put a lot of effort into outdoor play. There are several fun outdoor activities for kids that you can do right outside your own home.

Outdoor Activities for Kids

1. Water Balloon

This is a twist on the classic piñata. Fill around 10 water balloons and hang them up using pieces of string. Place the balloons a few inches apart, leaving the string long enough to allow the balloons to dangle. You can use a branch to hang the balloons in your yard.

Give your children a plastic baseball bat or similar tool and let each of them take turns getting blindfolded and swinging at the balloons. Others players should stay back to avoid accidentally getting hit. When the balloons are hit, your child will be surprised with a shower.

2. Soap Bubbles

Create bubble solution by mixing a cup of dish soap with a gallon of water and 3 tablespoons of glycerin. This will allow the bubbles you make to get very large. Place the bubble mix in a flat tray such as a cake pan and use a wire bent into a hoop to create a bubble wand. Teach your child to dip the wand into the solution and walk around to create bubbles.

3. Little Cleaner

Children love to play with water, so fill a bucket and add a few drops of baby shampoo and to create a carwash. Let your kids wash their bicycles or other outdoor toys, and then play with the hose to rinse everything off. Old rags can be used to dry the toys afterward. Then show off the newly cleaned toys by taking a ride around the block.

4. Bike Ride

Warm weather is the perfect excuse to encourage your whole family to spend more time on your bicycles. Any destination within two miles like the library or store can become a fun reason to take a bike ride. This is a great way to get everyone outdoors and discover new things about your neighborhood, things that you might miss when you drive.

5. Treasure Hunt

Children love treasure hunts. They have a chance to find things and follow the clues, which makes uncovering even mundane things a real adventure. You will need to do a bit of advance planning to hide things in your backyard for your children to find. Give your children a list of the items that have been hidden and let them loose. Try not to step in and help, so your children can develop problem solving skills along the way.

6. Mini-Garden

Learning how things grow can help to fuel a child’s curiosity about nature. Giving your child a plant to care for can also make him feel accomplished as it starts to thrive. Take a group of seedlings that have started to grow and place them in a pot of soil. You might need to transfer these into the ground with time if they grow too quickly. Let your child take charge of watering and monitoring the plant’s progress.

7. Play in the Dirt

Children love to take tools like a spoon or shovel and dig in the dirt. Children love to get dirty, and researchers have shown that exposing children to the microbes, bacteria and viruses in dirt helps to strengthen the immune system. Set up a flowerbed or set aside a portion of your yard that you can dedicate to dirt and give your child the opportunity to dig or play with the dirt here.

8. Dog Show

Gather up neighborhood pets and get them to perform tricks such as walking through a decorated hula hoop. Offer prizes such as ribbons made from cupcakes liners to the winners. Create a winner’s podium by turning a basin upside down to photograph each of the participants on.

9. Nature Map

Encourage your child to make a map of the natural landmarks in your neighborhood. This can help to encourage your child to learn more about the nature around him while increasing observation skills.

10. Hopscotch

Use colored chalk to create a hopscotch board on the concrete for your child to play on. You can decorate it any way you like to grab your child’s attention.

11. Tea Party

Create a tea party on the lawn by laying down blankets and placing a teapot, cups or snacks like small cakes for your child to enjoy. Let friends or his favorite stuffed animals act as guests.

12. Fairy Home

Have your child explore outdoors and pick out building materials like leaves, bark, stones or moss. Use a small amount of glue to put these items together to create a magical fairy home.

Watch the video below to get more ideas about outdoor activities for kids: